urban honey from Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tag Archives: urban beekeeping

Spring and summer seem far away, but it’s already time to start preparing for hives in your backyards. Winter is a great time for reading and learning about bees, thinking about where in your yard the bees will do best, and preparing your application materials for a hive permit.

Here is a quick winter checklist, including some reading material:

New hive hosts should call Minneapolis 3-1-1 to request an application packet from Animal Control.

The application will give specific information about where a hive can be placed in your yard. You can call or e-mail me to assess what location in your yard will be best.

If you are interested in learning more about honeybee behavior, beekeeping techniques or just want to see some cool pictures, I recommend reading Honeybee Democracy, The Hive & The Honeybee, and The ABC and XYZ of Beekeeping. Some of these books were published more than 100 years ago, which shows how incredibly consistent honeybees are in their behavior!

Start thinking about all that delicious honey that will be made from the flowers in your backyard and neighborhood. Yum.